1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to endotracheal tubes of the type having an auxiliary lumen. More particularly, it relates to a connector therefor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,759 to the present inventor discloses an endotracheal tube having an auxiliary lumen integrally formed therewith along the extent thereof.
Due to the close spacing of the auxiliary lumen and the main endotracheal tube, connection of the auxiliary lumen to preselected auxiliary equipment and connection of the main endotracheal tube to a supply source for the gaseous fluids to be administered to the patient is problematic. Note that a total of four primary items must be interconnected, i.e., the auxiliary equipment must be connected to the auxiliary lumen, and the supply source of the gas must be connected to the main endotracheal tube. The connector currently in use is designed to interconnect the proximal end of the main endotracheal tube and the distal end of a tube from said anesthesia supply source; no means are provided for interconnecting the auxiliary equipment and the auxiliary lumen. Thus, the proximal end of the auxiliary lumen merely abuts the connector when the proximal end of the endotracheal tube is connected to said connector. This results in a very unsatisfactory interconnection of the auxiliary equipment and the auxiliary lumen; the connector at the distal end of the tubing extending from the auxiliary equipment is brought around the endotracheal tube connector and brought into connection with the proximal end of the auxiliary lumen. An unacceptably sharp bend must be formed where the tubing from the auxiliary equipment meets the proximal end of the auxiliary lumen, resulting in an unacceptable constriction. Moreover, this arrangement requires the use of two separate connectors, i.e., a first connector for interconnecting the supply source and primary endotracheal tube and a second connector for interconnecting the auxiliary equipment and the auxiliary lumen. Since connectors are bulky, each connector interferes with the other when the various tubes are interconnected.
In the above-mentioned patent, this problem was overcome by making the auxiliary lumen substantially shorter than the main endotracheal tube so that the bend could be more gradual, thereby eliminating the constriction. However, this was unsatisfactory for other reasons. Specifically, the main endotracheal tube and auxiliary lumen are best constructed as a single unit. Thus, the manufacturing process is simpler and thus more cost effective if the main endotracheal tube and the auxiliary tube have a common length. Truncating the auxiliary lumen so that its proximal end is remote from the main connector thus drives up the manufacturing costs associated with the patented item. Moreover, shortening of the lumen still requires use of two connectors.
Still another shortcoming of the prior art is that the overall length of the connectors, when assembled, is too long. More particularly, a sleeve of elongate construction is used to interconnect the connector and an elbow member that engages a hose that extends from the source of anesthetizing gas. Thus, there are a total of three parts that must be assembled just to deliver the gas to the patient. Since all three parts are simply slide fit onto one another, it is incumbent upon the physician to hold the assembly together during the operation. The assemblies heretofore known are about eight centimeters in length; thus they are somewhat bulky and clumsy to deal with. Moreover, the physician must hold the assembly together by stretching his or her thumb upwardly so that it can overlie the elbow joint and thus hold the parts together.
What is needed, then, is a way to interconnect the lumen and the main tube to their respective pieces of equipment with a single connector and in the absence of sharp bends or truncated lumens. Moreover, an assembly of parts that would have less longitudinal extent than the assemblies now in use would be beneficial, because a shorter assembly of parts would be less bulky and would enable the anesthesiologist to hold the assembly together with less thumb reaching. However, at the time the present invention was made, the prior art, when considered as a whole as required by law, neither taught nor suggested to those of ordinary skill in this field how the extant problems could be resolved.